G -pronunciation

[Rachel Adams]

Hello

Is 'g' always pronounced as ˈdʒ' as in ˈdʒendə(r) before e, i, y?

 

[GoesStation]

English spelling has few unbreakable rules. You might want to look up the pronunciation of these words:

• singing
• sagginess
• saggy
• mugged
• mugging
• muggy
• winged
• bunged

There are many more. You can see some helpful patterns in these words: a double g is nearly always /g/; the suffixes -ing and -ed don't soften the g.

 

[Rachel Adams]

I came across this article about English consonants. It is written in Russian but they give examples in English. It also shows how a 'c' is usually pronounced before a, o, u, as /k/ and as /s/ before e, y, i. https://www.englishdom.com/blog/pravila-chteniya-v-anglijskom-yazyke/

C	[k]	предшествует любой согласной, гласным «a» / «o» / «u», конечная позиция	coal [kəul]
C

[TD="align: center"]предшествует гласным
«e» / «i» / «y»/td>[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]cyanide
['saɪənaɪd][/TD]

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It can also have an f sound, as in rough, laugh, cough, and enough.

And it can be silent, as in though.

In the US, at least, some words that we imported from France give g the zh sound, like garage, mirage, and triage.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

THere is no 'g' sound, /g/ or /dʒ/, in those words in most varieties/dialects of English. The sound of 'ng' is /ŋ/

Good point I'd still call it one type of g sound - and one I hadn't thought of!

So, Rachel, you're getting a lot of g possibilities here. Good question!

 

[GoesStation]

Last night I spotted another example: hoagie (also Hoagie when it's a name).

 

[Rachel Adams]

Do you think they are right about the pronunciation of 'c'?

 

[GoesStation]

I came across this article about English consonants. It is written in Russian but they give examples in English. It also shows how a 'c' is usually pronounced before a, o, u, as /k/ and as /s/ before e, y, i. https://www.englishdom.com/blog/pravila-chteniya-v-anglijskom-yazyke/

C	[k]	предшествует любой согласной, гласным «a» / «o» / «u», конечная позиция	coal [kəul]
C

[TD="align: center"]предшествует гласным
«e» / «i» / «y»/td>[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]cyanide
['saɪənaɪd][/TD]

Do you think they are right about the pronunciation of 'c'?

Yes. The same tendency applies to the letter G, but as you've seen, there are lots of exceptions. The only exceptions I can think of for C are Celt and Celtic,​ though the latter is pronounced like "sell-tic" when referring to the basketball team from Boston.

 

[jutfrank]

Do you think they are right about the pronunciation of 'c'?

Yes, of course they are right. They didn't just make it up. I think an important point that hasn't been mentioned is that the rule originally applied only to Latinate, not Germanic or other, words. That means words derived from the Latin language.

finger

The 'g' is not pronounced like a 'j' because it's not a Latinate word.

So if you can tell whether a word is derived from Latin, then the rule is quite useful. If you can't, it's not.

 

[jutfrank]

The only exceptions I can think of for C are Celt and Celtic

Those words are derived from ancient Greek, where the first consonant was a /k/ sound.

It is typical of Greek-derived words that we still pronounce them with a /k/. The first word I thought of was encephalitis.

(Note: I've just learned that American English favours encephalitis pronounced with a /s/. This generalisation shows how powerful the rule can be.)

 

[GoesStation]

It is typical of Greek-derived words that we still pronounce them with a /k/. The first word I thought of was encephalitis.

(Note: I've just learned that American English favours encephalitis pronounced with a /s/. This generalisation shows how powerful the rule can be.)

I never knew that Brits pronounced that word differently. I don't think I've ever heard it with a /k/ pronunciation.

 

[Skrej]

I never knew that Brits pronounced that word differently. I don't think I've ever heard it with a /k/ pronunciation.

It's not just the Brits. I've always pronounced it as 'Kelt'.

I'm not much on sports, so I was surprised when somebody mocked me for referring to the "Boston Keltics".

 

[jutfrank]

It's not just the Brits. I've always pronounced it as 'Kelt'.

I'm not much on sports, so I was surprised when somebody mocked me for referring to the "Boston Keltics".

I think GoesStation was talking about encephalitis there.

The Glasgow football team Celtic is also pronounced with a /s/.

But when talking about the culture, I think everyone would use a /k/, even American speakers.

 

[GoesStation]

I think GoesStation was talking about encephalitis there.

The Glasgow football team Celtic is also pronounced with a /sAnatomy makes the splits much more difficult for boys.

But when talking about the culture, I think everyone would use a /k/, even American speakers.

I'm pretty confident that most Americans are entirely unaware of the existence of a Celtic culture and would blithely pronounce the word with an /s/ regardless of context. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

 

[probus]

I'm pretty confident that most Americans are entirely unaware of the existence of a Celtic culture and would blithely pronounce the word with an /s/ regardless of context. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Regrettable, perhaps, but true. The 1% or so who watch public television would probably know the "k" pronunciation because of Celtic music programs, but few others would.

 

[bubbha]

I distinctly remember the word "Celtic" (referring to the cultures, languages, etc.) being pronounced with an "s" sound both in the UK and the US in the 1970s. Then more and more people started pronouncing it with a "k" in the 1980s, stressing that it was the "proper" and more enlightened pronunciation.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have always pronounced "encephalitis" with an "s" sound as the third letter. I think I've occasionally heard medical professionals pronounce it with a "k" sound but everyone I know pronounces it like I do. (BrE)

 

[probus]

To the extent that the K sound was ever used in the health care professions its origin nay have been Teutonic rather than classical. At one time some people here would write and say EKG rather than ECG for electrocardiogram. This was a nod to the German invention of that machine. But EKG has died out. So has enkephalitis, if indeed it ever existed. I checked with my 40-something physician daughter and son-in-law. Neither had ever heard enkephalitis.

 

[GoesStation]

EKG is the only abbreviation I've seen used for "electrocardiogram" in American medical circles.